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Herbert Smith of Pearl spent a morning this week doing what he loves to do — chasing crappie.

Trolling the shallows with pink and orange jigs, Smith said he cruised along the backwaters of Pelahatchie Bay with his baits set at 3 to 4 feet deep.

“They didn’t want you moving it up and down,” Smith said. “They wanted just straight movement.”

Getting as far away from boat traffic as he could (that and a straight-forward bait presentation) produced a respectable mess of fish for Smith. He had about 18 keepers in the livewell by late morning and planned to finish out a limit.

While a mess of fish like that is good for a morning’s effort, it usually isn’t enough to raise any eyebrows this time of year. What did stand out were the few males he pulled in that were sporting their dark spawning colors — an indicator that some of the best crappie fishing of the year may finally be underway.

“They are just now moving into shallow water,” Smith said. “All the ones we’ve been cleaning were slap full of eggs.”

Many anglers on Barnett associate the middle of April with the peak of the spawn, and some are wondering if it’s ever going to get here. Some even wonder if it happened while no one was looking. Others say the best has yet to come.

“It’s like tomato plants. People try to rush it to have the first ones.”

Considered among the top anglers on Barnett, Rogers said cooler water carries some of the blame for the delay. Cold rain from recent fronts dropped the water temperature lower than normal for this time of year. Cold nights helped keep it there.

Currently, the surface temperature on the main lake is in the mid- to upper 60s.

“I’ve always said a lot more eggs are laid above 70 degrees than below,” Rogers said.

Rogers also said the fluctuating level of the reservoir also has an effect, causing crappie to retreat from the shallows.

Fish out of water

Larry Bull, assistant director of the Fisheries Bureau of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, talked about the effect of falling water on spawning crappie.

“Fish don’t like it when water levels are falling,” said Bull.

“Fish are going to move off beds when the level falls.

“I don’t know if anyone knows why, but they don’t want their eggs to end up on dry land. That’s the theory behind that.”

While Rogers admitted this is a late spawn, he said it isn’t the latest he’s seen. Not by a long shot.

“Jane (his wife) and I won that Jerry Clower tournament on May 11, and they were all big black males,” Rogers said.

That tournament was held on Barnett in 1991.

Another year, Rogers recalled an even later spawn.

“I’ve caught them as late as June. The males were black as soot, and the females had eggs,” Rogers said. “Of course, that was an unusually cold year.”

With that in mind, Rogers said the best crappie fishing is ahead for Barnett anglers.

“Just wait,” Rogers said. “They’re going to spawn, and it’s going to be fast and furious.”

To contact Brian Broom, call (601) 961-7225 or follow The Clarion-Ledger Outdoors on Facebook or @BrianBroom on Twitter.